


Maleficarum

by Ashesandmint



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Eventual Smut, F/M, Romance, Salem Witch Trails AU, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-23
Updated: 2018-06-01
Packaged: 2019-05-10 10:16:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14735066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ashesandmint/pseuds/Ashesandmint
Summary: The Scarlet Witch is a 17th century sorceress. The Vision is a modern day synthezoid Avenger. Destiny has it that they must meet, and heal the fabric of existence.





	1. Chapter 1

A sparkling orange light shines on Vision’s periphery. The sudden intrusion sends his nerves on the offensive, he gets up, and prepares his aim at whatever this is.

The sparks die down and a figure appears. “Let me introduce myself,” The tall man says after he stepped out of his portal. “I’m-“  
“Doctor Strange,” His internet search was instant. A handy device, he notes, knowing every single person who has any trace on the world web.  
“Then we skip the pleasantries,” Stephen folds his arms and straightens his posture even more, his eyes are those of wisdom and purpose, yet not unkind.  
“Are you here for me or Mister Stark?” He questions the magician, even though he thinks, that a master of mystics would arrive before the precise person he intended.  
“The Vision of Odinson,” Night has fallen on the compound. A gentle rain starts to splutter against the long glass windows “i have a mission for you”

It felt odd to him, being addressed as the creation of the Asgardian god. He was the brain child of three scientists, yet he held a servitude towards Tony above the others. The part of him that was made specifically to accommodate Stark is still in his thought process, albeit not alone.

Vision knew that he should not be surprised that this man knew that Thor powered him into existence, yet he was. He had white streaks infused into his black hair, a long red cape, and a vibrating energy on him. It confused the synthezoid that this energy was- for lack of a better description- _familiar_.

  
“What is that you would need of me?”  
The first question should have been why would he even _trust_ him. So he asks. And is answered with an affirmation that they would be saving the world, and reality as it is.

“There is a serious disruption in dimensional energy north-east from our location,” The doctor explains. “About 233 miles.”

Stephen tells him that it is the city of Danvers- or Salem previously- , in the state of Massachusetts, that holds this unsettling problem. That this is not a recent predicament but one that dates back to centuries ago, to the mass hysteria of the Witch Trials.

“Pardon me, Doctor, but historians have concluded that the trials were a mistake. There were no supernaturals nor witches. It was a misconception built upon fear and panic, and ergot poisoning.”  
The doctor was not impressed. “I am well aware of falsities and the ignorances of the people of the seventeenth century,” He clenches both fists and pulls back in a swift motion, summoning rings and shapes that morph into a face.

“They were misguided about the all the women they killed, except the one. And with that they have set us on a path of doom.” Stephen makes to leave, opening up a portal like the one that brought him.

“How powerful could some herbal mixtures and Latin incantations be, to carry a threat to reality’s fabric three hundred years later?” Vision asks, not once taking his eyes off the feminine face still glowing by the power of magic.

He felt a sliver of..he wouldn’t call it fear, but it was. And something else, an incessant pull. To a long dead soul, to her features , the emotion almost entirely alien to him, experiencing it for the first time, it unsettles him.

The doctor looks back at him one last time before saying: “This was no _ordinary_ witch, and Wanda Maximoff could do much more harm than you could ever imagine..”

“I will be returning,” And with that Vision was by himself again, as if it was all a dream. Haunting, as if that were possible, her face haunted him for the following days. And then the doctor returned.

 

* * *

 

 

 _‘Thou shall not permit a sorceress to live’ Exodus 22:18_  
  
“By the permission of God, I kill and I give life.” Echoes the deep and solemn voice of father Aelfric.

The cell they were kept in was dark but for two sconces perched upon the cold brick walls.  
A chill surrounds the five women cuffed and kneeling down on the floor. The blonde haired woman shakes her head. “Do not” is all she says to the rest of the captives...

.  
.

“Confess your heinous doings,” He says to them. “Recant! wicked serpents,” The crack of his whip rattles them, erects their attention, intensifies their panic.

“Confess and retract your periapts, and I will plead the court spare you your lives,” A sudden gentleness overtook his tone, a sweet smile, a smile of promise and hope and falsehood.

“I am no witch father please I-“  
“We have not done harm to those little girls, we hav-“  
“I know nothing of the devilish arts I _beg_ -“

They were seeking some kind of absolution without any exposure, that angered the priest even more. It doubled his rage into an unstoppable force.  
“Then I shall have them burn you,” His threat sent them into a fit of tears and screams

“I confess!” The one named Sarah said. All the women turned to her, shocked.  
“I confess to bewitching the three young girls, I did it alone. Would you have mercy on me?” It wasn’t a plea, it was a challenge.

The quiet spread upon them like a thick blanket.  
_Let her take all the blame and fury?  
Or suffer her inevitable fate?_

The question churning in the jailed women’s minds was shot down, the priest did not accept such _blatant_ lies of the other’s innocence. all of them would be tried, all of them would confess, or all of them would die.

The priest was a man of forty years, short stature and raven black eyes. The dark eyes of his swept across the cell, ignoring all but one other lighter set of eyes.

In furthest corner of sat the Red One, the scarlet woman. Silent throughout the debacle that had just occurred, though not unharmed. Her lower lip was viciously cut open, and the blood had dripped all the way down her chin.

His attention focused onto her and he spoke to her alone.  
“Sweet Wanda,” His steps echoed loudly as he drew nearer to her. “There exists no need to hide, or lie,”

She looked up at him with a gaze akin to poison. Willing her fingers to produce her magic, she tried again and again to no avail.

Wanda, disgusted and humiliated, turned away barely missing the fleeting violet glow of the priest’s eyes. “Oh Wanda...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As requested by @VisionofScarlet on twitter, thanks for the lovely prompt.  
> Aaaand I’d love to hear what you guys think so far.


	2. Chapter 2

The Court had assembled a few days after Aelfric said it would. They would hold separate trails for the five convicted women. Wanda was brought in first. Her head was spinning from her weak state, she hadn’t eaten in two days, and the hunger was driving her resolve to its last breath.

She looked around at the scrutinizing faces scattered in the room. Each one more scornful than the other, each one more frightened than the other. She looked at the men sitting on the highest table, she counted three judges present. And that wretched priest standing upright beside them.

The judges were wearing the official attire, horsehair wigs that cascade down to the shoulders, wide-sleeved silk robes atop white tunics, they looked clean and expensive and _clean_

She looked at the worn down chemise she was wearing, and the dirty beige petticoat and skirt. She wanted to go to her home and clean her clothes, to bring out her red garments and wear them, she wanted her belongings, she wanted more than anything to go home. And she dearly wanted her cat.

 _but that would never happen_ a cold voice sounded in her head, _they will hang me here and now_.

They would wrong these women and wrong me, all for their nonsensical fright.

Wanda tried to reason with the priests and judges that _no_ , these women you accuse with witchcraft are in fact not witches, that they were innocent. And so the heavens would judge their doings as well as the people of the new world, they were destined for eternal damnation in the pits of hell for their crimes.

 

* * *

 

  
The sun cast a golden tint on the entirety of the living room. Vision was the first one there, the synthezoid didn’t sleep at all.

He contemplated telling the rest of the Avengers about what had transpired three days earlier, and he weighed the odds and possibility of one of them nobly tangling themselves into something too big for them to handle. Strange had made a show of just how delicate a job it was.

Steve woke up first, Tony second, and last was Natasha. The former Russian spy had been educating him in the techniques of deception. Yet despite their mingling some of his mannerisms remained relatively unhuman. _we’ll work on that Vision_ she’d tell him, and he’d thank her.

After he prepared tea for them he finally reached a solution. trust is the bedrock of group unions, And he’d become familiar with his team.

Duty slowly morphing into trust and then into companionship. His reasoning lead him to reveal his intention of helping the sorcerer.

.

.

He met Strange in Danvers city as they had agreed. They stood on a low hill overlooking a stretch of greenery and trees with birds perched upon their branches.

On his left, Vision saw the snake-like river crossing the city through its heart. The birds were chirping together melodically while others were flying overhead as if willing the scene to be as normal and as un-alarming as possible.

A faux natural order, for the order here had been turned upon it’s head and beaten. All of the unnatural activity had been transpiring in the veiled reality, Stephen had explained, and the crease between his brows grows deeper the more he talked.

“Crossings have started to occur,” The doctor said, underneath his eyes darker than the last time Vision saw him. “Energy leeches and demonic beings, ripples in reality,”

Vision heard the distant bark of a dog, the sound loud and nervous. He cut it from his mind and spoke at the doctor “I don’t think I follow,” The barking continued

Stephen drew in a tired breath, reminding himself to be patient, not _everyone_ has a background in magic related endeavors, not even a super powered AI.

“Let me show you” he pushed a fist into Vision’s chest and suddenly everything was different. Vision saw his body beside himself. A dull panic ran through him. He saw the doctor in a similar position, translucent and floating, ripped apart from his physical body.

Vision felt as if he’d altered his density to almost nothing, he felt light and unpresent. Yet he knew he was more present than ever before. He knew he would be seeing things he’s never seen before. A new revelation overtook him. This wasn’t his concousness parted from his body, he’d been in that state a lifetime ago, no. This was something else, it were as if this was his _spirit_

Then he saw. Dark creatures roaming about the plain fields they’d just witnessed. Grotesque beings that would drain the blood out of a bloodless man.

The sorcerer pointed towards the dog Vision had heard earlier. he now saw why it was being frantic; Two creatures were circling around him. And when they struck the animal, it fell cold and dead.

Stephen then chanted something indescribable, and a green glow extended towards the dead kanine. it then stood up again, alive and unharmed.

“It cant go on like this,” Stephen returned near his own body, sweat trailing down his face.

“You need to stop her from placing the curse,” Strange says and then he steps forward and looks straight at the sun “Whatever was keeping the thread intact is gone.”

Vision quietly processed what he had just heard and saw “Then i am to prevent her death?” He concluded.

“ _No_ ,” Stephen replied sternly “Who knows how large a fracture that would create, no. You will subdue her from using her magic, and that is all.”  
The doctor continued on “I will stay here trying to mend all this disruption happening, and you will need a human disguise, preferably that of a priest.”

“I’ll open a time portal for you here, and then another one after a week, to ensure your return to our time.” Said the doctor.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Another man entered the courtroom just as the trial began. Wanda noticed his stealth and air of resolution. He had short blonde hair, and very light eyes, though she couldn’t make out exactly which color from across the room. She scoffed at him _marvelous..another priest._

She hated every single one of them responsible for this, their bigotry and their false morals. Wanda let the feeling course through her, she imagined tilting their necks back in fatal positions, she pictured her crimson magic tearing them apart organ by organ.

 _what use to me are these unattainable whims?_  
_She_ was locked and handcuffed and downtrodden, _they_ were the ones killing _her_.

“Your honor if i may?” Said the nameless priest. “I have arrived from across the Atlantic with knowledge you might find valuable.“

The oldest of the judges studied him carefully, he then looked both sides, as if to silently enquire the others’ permission and then he asked what the man’s name was, to which the priest replied to was Vincent.

Wanda couldn’t help the fear budding in her at what this man might say. She stared at him while he looked the other way, and as if petrified, she couldn’t take her eyes off him at all.

The next second he caught her stare. He held on to it and a feeling she couldn’t discern flowed through her body, it started at her feet and pooled at the top of her head, she felt even worse after that.

“I could, with traces and valuables from witch and from her lair, help reverse the spells she has cast.” The blonde priest said.

He was tall wanda noticed, his face very symmetrical, his accent that of an Englishman.

“Father Vincent, I appreciate your proposal but she is far less dangerous here where i could recite the verses to subdue her.” Father Aelfric interrupted, his caution and his irritation ever so transparent.

“I could mend that too.” Smiled the priest before proceeding to convince the court of his capability.

He held both hands behind his back, and slightly inclined his head to the judges after they granted him his request, this time he did not smile.

.  
.  
.

  
The sunlight clashed with her eyesight the moment she stepped out of the court of Oyer. Nearby carriages pulled by horses, mules and cows crowded the road. Wanda hadn’t spoken a word to the man at all, but she had sensed something, something _powerful_. Radiating off of him, and eerily similar to the aura of Aelfric.

Something large, larger than she’d ever known. She drew her shackled hands nearer to her abdomen, and a small crimson flicker was starting to form.

“My name is not Vincent but Vision.” He said to her once they entered her brown oak house.

Wanda stood immovable as he reached out to unlock her shackles.

 _Fool_ she whispered to him. A half second later her right hand was on his chest and a blast of her magic sent him right across the floorboards, breaking many of them. He got up and to her surprise did not attack her back, instead he got down on his knees. Lifted both his palms as if to surrender.  
_He couldn’t fool her._

“Don’t, Wanda.” He spoke to her softly, his eyes so very blue “I want to help you.”

She let out a sharp laugh “They _all_ want to help me.” She flicked her wrists again, entrapping both of his arms behind him, twisting them, she wanted to break them.

“My words won’t convince you, but I will show you.” He then altered his appearance, milk white skin giving way to red, his black clothing giving way to green. And in his head a glowing yellow stone, pulsating, _alive_.

Wanda stood motionless, terrified and at awe. What creature was kneeling before her, _what type of wizardry_.

“I am not of your kind, I am not of your time, but I am on your side.” Vision told her.

Wanda relaxed her magic from his arms and stepped right in front of him. She studied the stone embedded in his forehead, her brows furrowed and her lips parted. He gently put his hand on hers. Wanda reluctantly let him guide her to touch the mind stone.

“This is what gives me power, which I won’t ever use against you. Yet you must help me, help me save the world. Wanda Maximoff.”

A white-hot energy flowed from his body to hers, Wanda gasped, her eyes widening and her heartbeat stammering. With her fingers still in contact with his stone she saw _things_... memories, knowledge, beauty. A frightening scene, dark creatures, murderous metal men. And, undefined emotions, he was complex and he was curious.

Wanda _felt_ him, she breached his core, _no_ , he unraveled it for her. And Wanda felt curious.


End file.
